Connor Associates Celebrates Australian Adaptation of Pulling in the Same Direction
Connor Associates is excited to announce that Mike Connor’s widely circulated internal marketing book Pulling in the Same Direction was “Australianised” and published for Australian independent schools by imageseven in May 2025. To support the release, Connor was featured on two podcasts with imageseven’s founder, Brad Entwistle, this month.
In addition to providing distinctive ways to promote your School’s brand and identity, Connor’s book prescribes the role that, together, trustees, faculty/staff, and each administrator play in advancing and sustaining the School’s vision and mission.
Entwistle writes in the forward to the Australian version of Pulling in the Same Direction:
“In 2011, Mike advanced a bold idea: long-term school sustainability required more than good strategy – it demanded a unified, interdependent school culture. Everyone, from the boardroom to the classroom, needed to collaborate to advance the school’s mission.
We saw a clear need for the same cultural shift in Australia that Mike identified in the US: internal alignment that starts from within and radiates outward.”
The podcasts were a spirited conversation of swapped stories and viewpoints. But the key takeaway comes down to Entwistle’s observation:
“Marketing is far too important to be left to the marketers.”
In his book and throughout dozens of workshops and webinars that he has conducted nationally and internationally over the past 30 years, Connor maintains that authentic brand power comes primarily from internal alignment based on a bold, shared identity and powered by interdependent relationships.
“Ultimately, it’s all about relationships. Families enroll and stay, alumni donate, and foundations support your school largely to the extent that you have formed strong personal bonds with them.
A marketing initiative that conveys a desirable image to the public is valuable, but it is nothing compared to how people experience your school.
It’s what’s inside that counts.”
To learn more, download copies of the 2025 Australian version and the original 2011 USA publication of Pulling in the Same Direction. To hear the podcasts, click here for Podcast #1 and Podcast #2.
Connor Associates stakes its value on its 40 years of experience in providing comprehensive services, including ensuring proof of ROI through Image Audits (reputational asset and risk management), Enrollment Feasibility Studies that identify mission-fit, full-pay prospects at rooftop level, Five-Year Enrollment Forecasts, Location Studies, Competitive Analyses for market and admission positioning, Business Office Evaluations and Plans (pricing sensitivity, tuition elasticity and analysis, benchmarking, reliable revenue streams, and capital management), Strategic Marketing Plans based on research, and onsite training and coaching to get everyone in your school and your trustees supporting enrollment, retention, and philanthropy.